26 February 2002

SOLAR-POWERED RADIO PROMOTES PEACE


Can solar-powered wind-up radios help bring peace to a war-torn country? An innovative project by the Freeplay Foundation in Niger is certainly giving the idea a chance, reports Internews. In co-operation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the government of Niger, the South Africa-based organisation has set up a program to donate solar-powered wind-up radios to rural communities as part of a wider effort to secure peace and identify local development priorities.

"Radios for the Consolidation of Peace" involves the donation of 12,445 solar-powered, wind-up radios from the Freeplay Energy Group to the Niger government who, in turn, will distribute the radios to various rural communities in the Diffa region. The radios will be used to inform communities about the need to collect and destroy small arms which the UNDP says are still prevalent in the country.

Freeplay Foundation is sending a technician to the capital Niamey to set up a factory and begin recruiting and training Nigerienes in the repair and recondition of the radios. The foundations says the donation of the radios to Niger is also part of a program – the Rural Radio Network and Information Centres for Development – initiated by the government to strengthen the capacity of the country's community radio network. Within two years, the number of solar powered community radio stations in Niger is expected to reach 160.

For more information, visit www.freeplayfoundation.org and www.undp.org.




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Also from the Communiqué, 26 February 2002

INTERNATIONAL: CJFE UNVEILS REVAMPED WEBSITE 26 February 2002 BELARUS: GOVERNMENT ADOPTS ANTI-TERRORISM LAW 26 February 2002 NIGERIA: 16 PRIVATE RADIO STATIONS SECURE LICENCES 26 February 2002 INTERNATIONAL: IFJ LAUNCHES WEBSITE ON CORRUPTION FOR AFRICAN JOURNALISTS 26 February 2002 THAILAND: FOREIGN JOURNALISTS ORDERED DEPORTED 26 February 2002 AUSTRALIA: CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENTS THREATEN PRESS FREEDOM 26 February 2002 INTERNATIONAL: PALESTINIAN MEDIA OUTLETS BOMBED AGAIN 26 February 2002 INTERNATIONAL: GEOFFREY NYAROTA WINS UNESCO PRIZE AS ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS LOOM 26 February 2002 INTERNATIONAL: SAYS IPI; DANIEL PEARL KILLED 26 February 2002

Niger

Nigerien president endorses Table Mountain declaration, calls for repeal of criminal defamation 1 December 2011 Two newspaper journalists detained over report on judicial corruption 17 October 2011 Editor detained overnight, charged over false publication 3 August 2011 WAN-IFRA welcomes commitment to free press 15 March 2011 Newspaper publisher arrested and released 29 September 2010 See all alerts: Niger


West Africa

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